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Letter to the editor: Biblical laws? No thanks!

On the Opinion page of the Nov. 16 issue of the Coastal Journal, Dale Landrith, Sr. wrote that “Absolute authority comes from God.”

In his previous article, “Why the Hatred and Violence?” Landrith “…advocated that a return to Judeo/Christian ‘moral absolutes’ was the solution” to the recent mass killings and other violence in our country.

Curiously, in reading through both of those articles, I couldn’t find a single example of what Mr. Landrith means by “moral absolutes.” Presumably, he means those values that are espoused in the Bible, which is the foundation of the Jewish and Christian religions.

So, what “moral absolutes” is he thinking of, do you suppose?

According to Deuteronomy, disobedient sons (21:18-21) and non-virginal brides (22:20,21) should be killed. Are these some of the “morals” we should return to? Or, how about Exodus 35:2, where it is commanded that those who work on the Sabbath be killed?

In Leviticus, it is advised that blasphemers (like me?) should be killed. Also, in Leviticus it says that homosexuals (20:13) and adulterers (20:10) should be executed. And, for good measure, Exodus 22 commands that witches should be sought out and killed.

Doesn’t it sound like an awful lot of killing would be involved in the return to these Biblical “moral absolutes?”

I can agree when he says, “Mankind is imperfect. Always has been, always will be.” However, It seems obvious to me that mankind has improved considerably on the “morality” of the Bible over the past 2,000 years. To put all authority on the Bible in the writing of our laws would obviously be a huge mistake.

Now some Christians will claim that those Old Testament laws were superseded by the “new covenant” of Jesus” in the New Testament, but Jesus himself said (Matthew 5:17), “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

Landrith wrote, “If we depend on government to establish right and wrong, it will fail.” He appears to suggest that we would do well to just scuttle the Constitution, and its Bill of Rights personal protections, and let the Bible be the absolute authority in moral matters.

Well I, for one, am solidly opposed to killing homosexuals, disobedient sons, or any of those other “sinners” listed above, and I am very, very glad that men (and women) turned away from the primitive barbarity of Biblical law in establishing the laws of our country.